Office of Mobile/Manufactured Home Relocation Assistance.
The Office of Mobile/Manufactured Home Relocation Assistance (Office), in the Department of Commerce (Department), provides general assistance to mobile and manufactured home resident organizations, tenant organizations, and mobile and manufactured home community owners.  Among its duties, the Office provides technical assistance to tenants who are participating in the conversion of a manufactured or mobile home park to resident ownership and provides financial assistance to homeowners under the Manufactured/Mobile Home Relocation Assistance Program (Relocation Assistance Program) when manufactured or mobile home parks close.
 
Relocation Assistance Program.
The Relocation Assistance Program, administered by the Office, provides monetary assistance on a first-come, first-served basis to low-income households owning manufactured or mobile homes located in manufactured or mobile home parks that are scheduled for closure or conversion to another use.  "Low-income household" means a single person, family, or unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is less than 80 percent of the median family income, adjusted for household size, for the county where the manufactured or mobile home is located.
 
Tenants residing in parks that are closed because of park-owner fraud or health and safety concerns are given priority for available funds.  Payments are made by the Office upon verification of eligibility and subject to the availability of funds.  Funding for relocation payments comes from the Manufactured/Mobile Home Park Relocation Fund, a nonappropriated account in the custody of the State Treasurer that receives moneys from manufactured or mobile home transaction fees.

The Manufactured/Mobile Home Rental Assistance Program (Rental Assistance Program) is created within the Office to provide monetary rental assistance to eligible tenants of manufactured or mobile home lots.  The Rental Assistance Program is administered by the Department, which may adopt rules for the administration of the program.  The Department is prohibited from using moneys in the Manufactured/Mobile Home Park Relocation Fund to provide monetary rental assistance under the Rental Assistance Program.
 
The Department must consider the following factors in determining eligibility of an applicant to receive assistance under the Rental Assistance Program:

• The applicant is a low-income tenant, which has the same meaning as low-income household for the purpose of the Relocation Assistance Program.
• The applicant is over the age of 55.
• The applicant has experienced a rent increase that outpaces inflation, as defined by the percentage change in the implicit price deflator published by the United States Department of Commerce.

 
Once a tenant is approved for the Rental Assistance Program, the tenant is entitled to receive monetary rental assistance on a monthly basis for one year, unless a change in circumstance occurs earlier that requires an adjustment or termination of the assistance.  The assistance may not exceed the lesser of either $200 or 50 percent of the monthly rent for the tenant's manufactured or mobile home lot.  The tenant must notify the Department of any change in circumstance that impacts the tenant's eligibility for assistance, including a change in household income that impacts the tenant's low-income status, or a change in monthly rent for the manufactured or mobile home lot.  The Department must adjust or terminate the amount of assistance as appropriate.  A tenant must reapply annually for assistance under the Rental Assistance Program.
 
The Rental Assistance Program and the Relocation Assistance Program share the same definition section.  The definition of "tenant" is amended to be defined as a person who owns a manufactured or mobile home located on a rented lot in a manufactured or mobile home park and rents the manufactured or mobile home lot for a term of one month or longer.  Definitions for "manufactured housing," "mobile home," and "mobile home lot" are added to have the same meaning as in certain other statutes.